Frozen A/C Help!

[leslieh01]

Howdy from Texas!

Though the temps are going down, Texas is still hot at times, especially if your a/c just froze!  The temp outside is lower than in the house! :shock:  The hose going from the house to the a/c unit outside has frosty-icey-snow in places.  The inside of the a/c unit outside has frozen hoses too.  My hubby said it turn on the a/c inside the house and wait for it to thaw.  He's been having to replace the filters more often lately.  We need advice on this problem.  I like snow, but not on my a/c

Leslie Harris

[hvacdrd]

Two things will typically cause this "snowy" condition...yes even in Texas. First, poor air flow(dirty filters, dirty blower wheel, restricted return or supply air vents, dirty evaporator, failed blower motor)...the second is low refrigerant in the system. Yes there can be other causes but they are less common.

First, turn off the A/C but leave the indoor fan on by setting the thermostat fan switch to "ON" (usually set on AUTO) - allow the system to completely thaw out (by the time you see ice outside the coil inside is a block of ice)

once thawed check the vents for air flow...does it feel normal?

when the A/C is turned back on take some temperature measurements

1 - room temperature &  outdoor air temperature

2 - air supply temperature at a vent (colder than room temp)

3 - temperature of insulated line(pipe temp under insulation) at outside unit

4 - how long does it typically take before you notice the system has frost on the lines?

post these temps and whatever information you think is relavent and we'll see what we come up with

[exsearsguy]

Howdy,Leslie in Texas.Like hvacdrd suggests, check your airflow. Filter and dirty evaporator come to mind. Especially if you are running your ac during the day when the temps are warm but keeping it going at night when the temps fall. Have you had any cool nights lately?

[applianceman18007260692]

this prob aint gonna fix it but at this time of year the temp drops dramatically in texas ...perhars just moving yer tstat up at night to say 76 might stop the freezeup